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Spike Lee's Katrina Doc Premieres Tonight on HBO »
Posted by: Karina 3 years, 4 months ago"What breaks your heart is the film’s accumulated firsthand stories of New Orleans residents who lost everything in the flood after Hurricane Katrina, and the dismaying conclusion that a year after the disaster, the broken city has been largely abandoned to fend for itself."
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Karina
Karina Longworth blogs about film at Spout.com. She co-founded the film blog Cinematical in March 2005, whilst simultaneously completing an MA in Cinema Studies ...
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Comments: 107
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Ofsoundmind
Aug. 21, 2006, 6:04 p.m.Anybody who watches this, please count the number of times the words blacks, whites and George Bush are used.
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drdregh
Aug. 21, 2006, 6:13 p.m.I guess calling a spade a spade may offend some huh? If 1/10th of what has been spent on Iraq is spent on the clean up effort there will be no ducumentary!!
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Scorpiomeat
Aug. 21, 2006, 6:22 p.m.Let it be known that Spike Lee is a card carrying Racial Bigot. He has blurted out in front of dozens of news reporters that he finds "white women to be disgusting and none of them are pretty". Do you think for one moment that this 'doc' will be unbiased by this Bigot. This 'doc' will be all about the poor black people of New Orleans and the injustice Washington did to them. Who failed the poor of New Orleans was the Major of New Orleans and Governor of Louisiana. Over 65% of the people of New Orleans were on Welfare and all that Federal money was loved by the Mayor. Did he offer schooling, or training or jobs to help these people get off welfare, NO! Spike Lee with his "closed-minded" philsophy about blacks, just as ALL blacks have, will have nothing new to say and certainly NOTHING new to offer the poor of that City. Spike Lee should stay in New York where he belongs.
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jsc3043
Aug. 21, 2006, 6:27 p.m.What the is HBO thinking? Spike Lee is the most racist black man in show business. Katrina was a tragedy and If I remember right it was Mayor Nagin (a black man) who sent all those people to the stadium to die. Not to mention the voluntary evacuation 2 days before Katrina hit when at that point it should have been mandatory but hey the Mayor and Govenor can't work together and the Mayors family was safe and sound in Dallas, Tx while the hurricane hit. At least the President has the cohones to take responsibility for the gov't failure. Something the Mayor has yet to do.
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dick-n
Aug. 21, 2006, 6:28 p.m.Katrina was the worst natural disister in our history. The amount of aid contributed to its victims is also the greatest in our history. And the response from fellow citizens also the greatest in our history. What kind of lunacy posseses someone to try to blame a person, any person,for an act of nature...the mayor, the governor, or the president? The blame game is disgusting. Spike Lee has millions...how much did he send? How many displaced souls stayed at his house? How many sand bags did he throw? How many grieving mothers did he comfort? Where was Spike?
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Twistoflex
Aug. 21, 2006, 6:29 p.m.Our Dear Decider seems to think that there's a Constitutional provision requiring Americans to sponsor foreign gov'ts/states. Compare what we're spending in Iraq to what we're spending on American schools, healthcare and American infrastructure. One Nobel laureate economist has estimated the cost of Iraq will top $2 trillion.
But let's not be naive. We're not spending this for democratizing the Middle East. That bullcrap is for public consumption. We're simply setting up a client state that will do the bidding of Big Oil. In other words, this money spent is for corporate socialism: the taxpayers sponsoring the corporate interests.
Meanwhile, NOLA is a glowing example of where the despicable Dumbya dictatorship had its priorities. With full knowledge of the impending disaster they basically told those people to go to hell.
There are a thousand and one reasons why this junta should be impeached and criminally charged.
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austinandjustin
Aug. 21, 2006, 6:53 p.m.I don't understand why instead of attacking the ineptness that Hurricane Katrina revealed, people are attacking the messenger. It doesn't matter if Spike Lee or Ron Howard did the documentary if the truth behind the slow government response is revealed. The Canadians made it to LA before our government did. On Nightline, Michael Brown tells Ted Koppel "We just learned of the convention center -- we being the federal government -- today. That was on September 1. It was on television, newspapers etc.for five days. I guess he was just looking at DVDs. President Bush said that no one had any idea that the levees would break when a government report had already reported that if a hurricane with level force 4 winds occured that the leveees would break. If our government had such an inept response to a catastrophe they knew was coming, what would happen if a terrorist attacked without any advance warning?
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daniel-r-nelson
Aug. 21, 2006, 6:54 p.m.I wonder if there will be any mention of where the original government money, allocated to improve the levees years ago, went. Or, why the people who lived in the impoverished areas have not come back to their homes and used their own sweat to clean up the mess... like the story of the 93 year old lady who did it herself. Why does the taxpayer have to do for those that don't want to do for themselves? I guarantee you that the people of China, that just experienced a major typhoon, are already diligently repairing their damage!
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clobbledank
Aug. 21, 2006, 6:56 p.m.Well, well Mr. Twistoflex, it is so good to see you have it all figured out. Talking about impending disasters, where were the black leaders when the people of New Orleans should have been taught 75 years ago not to breed like dogs with no possible way of taking care of them selves or their offspring? Hell, if Jesse Jackson had been president during Katrina it would still been the white conservative's fault huh? Twistoflex, you and your ilk are full of crap!
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abraham1861
Aug. 21, 2006, 6:57 p.m.A no good racist...what a disgrace to the black race..just goes to show you..if the money is right.. HBO will show anything...
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alw111
Aug. 21, 2006, 7:09 p.m.The closed minded attitude that all blacks have. LMAO! Scorpiomeat your a genius. That doesn't sound the tad bit hypocritical to anyone else. I don't think any further comment is needed.
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THOMNH62
Aug. 21, 2006, 7:22 p.m.lets exploit the vistims again, I wonder how much money from Spike HBO paycheck goes to relieve the people of Katrina
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KlassyLady
Aug. 21, 2006, 7:31 p.m.I am downright offended by the comments you have said about the documentary. I was most offended by what Scorpiomeat said so I will respond to that. What's the problem with a director creating a documentary about "poor Black people?" I am sick and tired of America/Americans glossing over the fact that racism and injustice STILL exists. This documentary is shedding light on that reality and it's being criticized b/c it's true. I'm sure if it was on a "White" topic it wouldn't receive this much resistance. Don't jump to calling me a racist bigot like you did Spike-I just refuse to have you or anyone else disrespect my people. Can Black America have an opp. to display the truth w/o it being "there those Blacks go complaining again." As far as having nothing new to say, we will continue to repeat ourselves until people listen. I can't change ignorant people, but learn to value and RESPECT races outside your own, be open-minded, and try to empathize with other's struggles.
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Wjbroz
Aug. 21, 2006, 7:32 p.m.Spike only rehashes what every one here(in New Orleans) is trying to get beyond.
An uneducated levee board is the problem. and their $800.00 lunches and complacinces.
any body with a lick of common sense followed the weather reports left N.O., Jefferson, St. Bernard, Plaqumines and South St. Tammy.
During Betsy the lower 9th ward and upper St Bernard parish flooded. I was one of those who at 6 years old were floated out, the boated out, then National Guard trucked out.
Those who do not learn from histroy are bound to repeat it. I left Saturday before Katrina as did all of my children and grandchildren.
These people have no one to balme but themselves and their rose colored glasses.
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Wjbroz
Aug. 21, 2006, 7:33 p.m.Spike only rehashes what every one here(in New Orleans) is trying to get beyond.
An uneducated levee board is the problem. and their $800.00 lunches and complacinces.
any body with a lick of common sense followed the weather reports left N.O., Jefferson, St. Bernard, Plaqumines and South St. Tammy.
During Betsy the lower 9th ward and upper St Bernard parish flooded. I was one of those who at 6 years old were floated out, the boated out, then National Guard trucked out.
Those who do not learn from histroy are bound to repeat it. I left Saturday before Katrina as did all of my children and grandchildren.
These people have no one to blame but themselves and their rose colored glasses.
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tightslip
Aug. 21, 2006, 7:36 p.m.While acknowledging the tragic impact on human lives caused by Hurricane Katrina, one has to ask if there would have been a documentary if New Orleans had been a white city instead of a black city. Wise up HBO!
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KlassyLady
Aug. 21, 2006, 7:38 p.m.Adn to you clobbledank...are you saying that Blacks bred like dogs and didn't take care of their offspring? If we want to talk about people not taking care of their offspring lets go back in history when white masters raped the women slaves. Do you think they took care of their offspring? Please grow up...become educated in things outside your own little bubble and stop being so ignorant!
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gmc06
Aug. 21, 2006, 7:40 p.m.good grief scorpiomeat, i'm sure you did not mean to put ALL black people in the same category. you couldn't have. fact: spike lee does have a high level of ignorance, but so do you. fact: spike lee should be careful of the things that come out of his mouth, but so should you. fact: spike lee has been conditioned and should learn how to separate truth from subjective conjecture by not judging the intents of the heart; you definitely should too. God bless you.
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ItsShades
Aug. 21, 2006, 8:05 p.m.You know what I find all the comments of Spike Lees Biggotry utterly amusing. Its funny because look at all the anti black, anti hispanic, anti chinese, anit this and anti that crap that gets shown on TV everyday. Spike Lee felt a certain kind of way about whats happened to ALL the people of Katrina, he may not had directed it on the white people, hispanics, chinese, indian etc , or whomever else may have lived there but all in all ITS THE SAME FOR EVERYONE THATS BEEN THROUGH THE DISASTER. ALl races were affected in this horrible storm and it just so happens he's reaching out to African Americans. Most of the tv productions about Katrina had to do with White Americans, should it have gone down like that? No, Katrina isnt bias on creed, color, sex, monetary status or age. The point of this whole situation is this, it was horrible and no one needs to go through anything like this. Remember racial biggotry begins at home, look at yourself before you look at someone else.
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jjmph91
Aug. 21, 2006, 8:10 p.m.Katrina is a disaster of major proportions just like the Tsunomi 12/2004, Sept 11, 2001 and many other disasters such as earthquakes, fires and etc. With the exception of 9/11, the others are natural to the areas. Me, I have been in 11 hurricanes and have been very close to 2 major earthquakes. I take precautions that are reasonable for the area for me and my families safety. My son was in both Katrina and Rita in Gulf Port, MS. and lost everything too, he had 32 ft of water in his town house while stationed in the Navy. He still has his truck and few possessions. When moving or residing in New Orleans, did these folks know they were under sea level? Hadn't they heard the marsh land was reclaiming that area of Louisiana the year before? I heard it in San Fran Bay Area, CA! If the Big one comes, I am prepared the best I can be with generators, water, structurally reinforced my house (as a single mom). My Opinion, these people were not victims, they were stupid!
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austinandjustin
Aug. 21, 2006, 8:14 p.m.It's weird that people commenting are trying to turn this into a black/white issue when I noticed that people of both races were suffereing from Kitrina. The larger question is why was there such a slow response governmental years after 9/11 and if another disaster happened either nature or terrorism, would our response be any different? What has been done after Kitrina that wasn't done between 9/11 and Kitrina to better our disaster preparations both before a new disater and after? Do we have a better system to evacuate our cities? How have relief organizations prepared for this devastation when it happens. Go ahead argue about whether people who didn't have the resources should have left. Argue about Spike Lee. Perhaps if you keep arguing about details and blaming victims, the larger picture of what you will do when you become the victim will be forgotten.
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holyshiiite
Aug. 21, 2006, 8:49 p.m.i wonder if this is applicably called "a spike lee joint" like he calls the rest of his racially biased movies, spike just saw an opportunity to cash in and gain some publicity, where was he during the la riots? if there ever was an opportunity to discuss a disaster that it. oh yahh aficans americans were the majority creating the disaster.
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CSUDropout
Aug. 21, 2006, 8:56 p.m.I'm surprised that Micheal Moore, didn't beat Spike Lee to this Documentary...Guess there wasn't enough money to be made for him. I still have trouble wondering why Mayor Nagin spent money on eye candy instead of shoring up the levees, or make sure that the pumps had backup generators to at least mitigate the floodwaters, and since He had authority to evacuate the elderly,and ill, he didn't do so. Makes ya wonder just how well ANY of our Government agencies from the lowest local to the highest Federal will react in a disaster. Here in Shakey Town we are Screwed even if we DID have advance warning of an earthquake. The Roads are Jammed on any given day, and in the event of a quake I don't depend on Our new Mayor, or any government official to be able to assist, as they largely are concerned ONLY with their own Jobs and retirements.
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